Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) (3 page)

We were at an island with a very small town on the beach. This wasn’t a port. This was a pirate cove. I sighed. I had really wished for a place where there were actually people, not just someplace with a few buildings stocked often from some anonymous pirate. Then again, my father never stopped at a place where there were lots of people. The one time he did, I took off, and he said no every time since. And with a place like this, I couldn’t get lost even if I wanted to.

“Shall we?”

I turned to face Mark but didn’t say anything.

“This is the last boat to the island so if you want to go, we have to go now.”

He had his hand out to help me down the rope ladder to
the boat waiting below. I ignored it and went down without help. He followed right behind me, and as soon as he was in the boat we were rowing away from the ship. I was sitting in front of him so that he could help row, but I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. As soon as we hit the sand, I was out of the boat and walking toward the forest.

He came up behind me quickly and didn’t wait to get his thoughts off his mind. “What’s the matter?”

I shook my head. I was still confused and I wasn’t about to bring up anything Jason had said.

“You can’t run away on this
island.” He touched my shoulder to try to slow me down.

“I know that,” I snapped
while I pushed his hand off.

“Why are you mad at me? Does this have to do with last night?”

I shrugged.

“Stop, will you? There’s nowhere to go anyway.”

I sighed and stopped. He came around to be in front of me. “What’s wrong with you?”

I glared up at him.

“That came out wrong. It’s just that you said you’d think about us last night. And now you’re angry with me. Something must have happened this morning.”

“I’m not angry at you per say. I’m just angry in general.” I looked away through the trees ahead of me. I could see the ocean. I sighed again. Was a piece of land that was small enough where you could see ocean from all sides when you were in the middle really supposed to be called an island?

“Did you talk to Jason by chance?”

I glanced at him
. He groaned and shook his head in frustration.

“I knew it.”

“He wouldn’t tell me anything though. He left me just as confused as you did.”

He closed his eyes, and his face relaxed. “So you’re mad because you’re confused.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t going to admit it.

“Look, I didn’t tell you to make you angry. I told you because I thought you should know before I go to your father and tell him my i
ntentions.” He opened his eyes. The look he was giving me was so intense. My suspicions grew.

“Your
intentions.” I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t know my answer. Plus, I don’t want you talking to Shawn.”

“Andy, I’m a man who gets what I want either way.” A smirk appeared on his lips as he
spoke.

“So you asked me even though you were going to do what you wanted?” I struggled
to keep my voice calm. I didn’t like feeling like I had no choice in the matter

He put his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. “Basically.”

I was about to answer when I heard gunfire. Looking around, I noticed it getting darker. How long had we been standing out here arguing? We must have gotten off the ship later than I’d thought.

Before I realized it, Mark had gone past me,
and grabbed my hand on his way. As he dragged me through the forest, I clawed at him to let me go. The gunfire became louder and more frequent, but I hardly noticed. We arrived at the edge of the forest where he finally turned around and made a show of letting go of my hand.

“There!  We’re all in danger and now you’re free. I’m just trying to get us back to the ship in one piece. Now let’s go!”

We quickly realized we were in a bad position when we made our way to the beach and found all the boats were gone. This wouldn’t have been bad because my father could have left us there for protection. But that wasn’t the case since boats were coming from the direction of the ship that was firing at ours.

“Go into one of those buildings and do what you can to hide. I’ll try to distract them.” Mark turned to me. “Whatever happens, don’t let them get you.”

I wasn’t sure if I was angrier at his suddenly feeling like he had power over me or of the men coming for us. Whichever the reason, I ran back to one of the buildings and went in toward the middle. It wasn’t very full, which made it a bad choice, but I heard voices so I had to stay put. I went to the back and crouched behind a crate.

I didn’t have to wait long before I heard the building next to mine being torn apart. I squeezed myself back into the corner. It wasn’t dark enough for me not to be seen, but I was going to make it as difficult as possible.

I didn’t calculate that they’d have torches though.

One man
stepped inside the room, and I knew he saw me. He handed his torch to someone behind him, so I immediately lost what he looked like. I just saw a dark form come toward me. I stood up quickly, and right as he reached me I pulled my arm back and punched his face. The punch should have had him stumbling back, but he didn’t react how I expected. Instead he was quickly behind me. He put his hand over my mouth and tried to get a cloth between my teeth. I bit him between his thumb and index finger. He grunted as he released his hand immediately. I found myself on the floor. I stared up at the man as he looked down at his hand. I was so focused on this that I forgot there were other men around. I was pulled up off the floor and found my hands being tied together behind my back. This time they were able to put a cloth between my teeth. I started to squirm immediately. I felt myself getting picked up, and I started to kick. I must have hit a good spot, because I was suddenly on the floor again. I grunted and felt the unwanted tears spring to my eyes as pain shot through my body.

“Leave,” t
he first guy said to the ones behind him. His voice didn’t sound mad. In fact, it sounded very calm. “I’ll get her.”

I heard movement behind me, and
then the main light was gone. There was still enough light for me to see his form, but not his face.

“You can either stand up on your own, or I’ll help you,” he said. I didn’t make a sound, so he added. “I’m not going to hurt you. But if you can’t get up by yourself, I will help. It
is
difficult to get up with your hands tied behind your back. I’ve done it before.”

I wanted to ask him what made him think I’d be so willing to give in. I saw he was standing a little closer, so I tried my best to twirl around and kick the back of his knee with my foot. It didn’t work how I’d hoped, but he did stumble and had to grab a crate to steady himself.

“You’re really making this harder than it has to be.” He stood upright again. He came toward me, dodging my feet and stood at my knees. He leaned over me in perfect position for me to angle my body and get a good kick at the back of his legs. I acted like I was going to try to get up and as I sat up, I struck. This time, he was immediately on the ground next to me, his head by where my feet had been. He didn’t move for a second, and I hoped that maybe I’d really hurt him. And then I heard him sigh, and he raised a hand to his face. He sat up and looked directly at me. I could see a dim light reflecting off his eyes as if two small beams of light were focused on me.

“I get this. But if you let me help you up and out of here, it will be much easier for you than to have several men come in here and carry you. Yes, you could think of that as giving in, but you will come out in much better circumstances.” He stood up. “It’s your choice. Either stand up now or I’m calling in more men.”

I sat for a moment and wondered what kind of man he was. He seemed sincere. He wasn’t angry with me nor was he trying to pick a fight. He was dealing with my behavior as if it was nothing to him. This was probably what surprised me the most, which was why I decided to get to my feet. It was a slight struggle not being able to use my hands, but I made it.

My
eyes were at about the level of his chin, which was taller than I had previously judged. He slowly walked around so that he was next me. He placed his hand on the rope instead of my hands, and he gave enough pressure to turn me around. I started for the door. I saw my opening there. If I could catch him off guard and make a run for the forest, I would have time to get the ropes off my wrists. Then I could make a swim for the ship. Surely my father couldn’t have forgotten about me and left. And I didn’t know where Mark was, if he was even safe. What were my chances of making it out of here?

As soon as we were out of the building, I took a chance. I made a run for it, but wasn’t watching where I was going. I ran too close to a pack of men
. I silently cursed when one reached out and caught me. He grabbed me from behind and held me still just as someone came running up to us.

“
Brian don’t- “

I felt a crack on the back of my head and then everything went black.

Chapter II

I woke to a horrible pain in my head. I also realized that
I was lying on something very soft. Though my eyelids were shut, I could tell that it was I was in a very bright area. I put my hand on my forehead and tried to sit up, only to find some sort of pressure that pushed me back down. I tried again, but the resistance was still there.

“Don’t try to sit up,” a male voice spoke.

I thought I recognized that voice, but I wasn’t sure from where. I felt my hand being moved and being replaced by something soft, wet, and cold. I pulled my hand out of his grip and placed it lower on my face, while I tried to figure out what had happened. I had tried to run, but I was caught. Then everything went black. They must have gotten a hold of me, and I was with them and not my father.

I sprang up from whatever it was that was so soft and immediately started to fall. I felt the man catch me and then push me back to a bench with a plush cushion on it that I must have been on before. My head
pounded painfully. I moaned as I lay back down and covered my eyes with my hands.

“I told you not to sit up,” the voice said again. It wasn’t deep exactly, but still low and soothing. I liked it and wanted him to talk more. He did. “Now, springing up off the cushion; that’s much worse than sitting up, as you now know.”

“Where am I?” I asked quietly.

“You’re on a ship from the Royal Navy. Your head got a pretty good thump on it yesterday. Sorr
y about that. They weren’t supposed to hurt you.”

I slowly opened my eyes and removed my hands. The first thing I saw was a hand with a bandage on it moving away from the cloth that had been replaced on my forehead. I groaned. This wasn’t happening. This man, whom I’d attacked not just once, but three ti
mes and also had bitten, was taking care of me. It made me feel sick. It was bad enough to be kidnapped, but then to have to be taken care of by someone I didn’t know, who I’d hurt, didn’t make sense to me.

“How long have I been out?” I closed my eyes again before I could see anything else.

“Several hours. But you need to stay resting, or your head will be worse. Please trust me on this, if nothing else.”

I
carefully turned my head toward the sound of his voice. I wanted to see who this man was. My eyes landed on a young man with reddish-brown hair, more brown than red, which was just long enough to catch in his eyelashes when he blinked. His eyes were a deep, dark brown, and very beautiful. It took me a minute to pull my own eyes away from his to notice that he had a very friendly and open face. He had a strong chin and a straight nose. He seemed to be one of the best-looking men I’d ever seen. He didn’t have a black eye from where I had hit him yesterday. He smiled at me, a smile I didn’t deserve.

“Why’d you kidnap me?” Now that it was out there, it sounded so weak. I hated feeling weak, let alone sounding it. I didn’t like people taking care of me or treating me nicely, especially when I’d been so mean to them. But the way he was looking at me, I couldn’t feel the anger.

“We had to.”

“’We’?” I
fought off the fuzziness in my head.

“The Royal Navy. We
find girls who have been taken into piracy and try to get them back to their families or at least back into society. Well, that’s what I do anyway.”

That would explain the uniform that he was wearing at least. “You don’t know anything about me. You just took me from the only family I have.”

He bit his lip. “What do you mean?”

“My father is the captain of that ship you attacked. You didn’t know that?”

He slowly shook his head. “No, I did not. I only knew that there was a female on the ship and it was our duty to get her off at all costs.”

I wanted to scream at him, punch him again, but the pain in my head was too much. My eyelids started to close, but I fought against it still.

He noticed. “Don’t resist. Your body knows what it needs to heal. Get some rest.”

“No. No. You kidnapped me. I need to get out of here.” I wan
ted to sit up but my body wouldn’t obey me.

“You won’t make it far, I promise you. Get some sleep and when you wake up we’ll plan your next move.” He lowered his head a little closer to mine, but my eyelids couldn’t stay open any longer. The last thing I heard was, “I’m right here.”

The next time I woke, the room wasn’t as bright and by the look of how the light hit the walls, it seemed as if the sun was setting. I turned my head, but the guy wasn’t within view. I slowly sat up and leaned back against the wall. I rested my head on my knees and moaned. My head still hurt, but not nearly as much.

“You’re up.”

I jerked back and cracked my head against the wall with a loud thud. I sucked in a quick breath and brought my head forward to rest it against my knees again, but this time in pain.

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant to startle you.” He placed his hand on the back of my head very softly, and then removed it just as quickly. “How are you feeling?”

I glanced at him. I didn’t try to hide the anger displayed clearly on my face. I shouldn’t have thought he wasn’t in the room. He said he was going to stay. He had pulled a chair closer to where my head had been, out of my sight when I sat up.

“Is your head any
better? Well, at least was it before you hit it?”

I closed my eyes and sighed. I didn’t want to talk to him.

“You don’t have to be scared of me. I’m not going to hurt you.”

My eyes flashed open
in disbelief. “You think I’m scared of you?”

He tilted his head. “I don’t know.”

“I. Am.
Not
. Scared. Of. You.” I sat up straighter. My head throbbed and I winced. “You kidnapped me. I got hurt so I can’t do to you what I want to do, and now you’re thinking I’m scared of you? What kind of life do you think I’ve lived? I get into fights on a daily basis. Where do you think I got this black eye from?” I pointed to my left eye. “I am not scared of you. I can take care of myself.”

“Which is why you were left on that island alone, right?” He leaned forward. “And why nobody came back for you? If your father treated you like a father should, you would not be here right now. Instead, you would be under his watchful eye.”

I stood up, though I staggered slightly. He stood up as well. “I do what I want, when I want. Nobody is the boss of me. The only reason I’m putting up with being here is because I’m on a ship in the middle of the ocean and I can’t exactly get off and make a run for it.”

“It’s interesting that you say being in the middle of the ocean on a ship would stop you from trying to run when being on an island that was also in the middle of the ocean was such a better option.” He folded his arms across his chest but kept his expression calm.

I continued to glare at him. He should have been infuriating me, but he wasn’t. I was frustrated, yes, but there was something about him that made me unable to feel any real anger toward him. That didn’t mean I had to like him though. “What’s your name?”

He leaned back, not expecting a subject change. “Why?”

“So I know the name of the man that I need to hate right now.”

The corner of his mouth twitched and pulled up slightly
. “My name is James Cony.”

I considered this. James Cony, the man who kidnapped me. “I hate you
, James Cony.”

His smil
e grew and his front teeth were visible. “I think you will get over that.”

I folded my arms across my chest, determined not to let the pain in my head overrun my irritation at that statement. “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

Before he could respond, there was a knock at the door, which distracted his attention. I stepped back and sat down on the seat. I gently placed my head in my hands. I closed my eyes as if trying to shut out all the emotions running through me. I could feel him stare at me and hesitate before he went over to the door. I wanted to lie down, but I wasn’t sure if I’d sleep or just lie there and have to pretend to sleep to avoid any more conversation. Was staying here really better than trying to swim for it?

I leaned back against the wall instead and looked around the room. It must have been just like the one my father had done for me. I’d never seen any other ship with a room like mine, and this had far more expensive furniture in it, and it was very, very nice. I felt out of place. I pulled my knees up to my chest and turned my head to look out the window. How long was it going to be before we docked somewhere and I could run? Then again, how would my father know where to find me? How was I to know where we were even going? Maybe if I just held out here, with this guy, then I’d be better set to find my father. He would find out whose ship this was. I just had to deal with this guy for a little longer before I could run.

James came back and sat back on his chair. I dragged my eyes up to find him watching me. We stared at each other for a long time before I finally decided to ask my questions.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere”

“For how long.”

He shrugged.

“I’m assuming, since I don’t know where I’m going and for how long, I’ll be staying somewhere.”

He nodded. “You’ll come with me and stay with my family.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Your family?”

“Well, who I call family.” He stood up. “My real parents are dead, and I am an only child.”

This confused me, but I didn’t say anything as he walked across the room. I wasn’t sure what to say. Most of the men on the ship had no family. But the look on his face was so sad that I felt I needed to say something. “I don’t have a mother.”

He turned around. “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged as I closed my eyes. “I didn’t know her. My father refuses to talk about her. Then again, I’ve never really asked about her either.”

“Why?”

I looked at him, surprised by his question. “Why what?”

He shook his head. “Forget it. It’s not important.”

I lay down on the cushion, and the pain in my head lessened considerably. “So who do you live with?”

“I live with Captain Brown. He’s a retired captain of a ship. He lives a couple miles out of town along the coast.”

“Isn’t it awkward to live with someone who isn’t family?”

“My parents died when I was very young, so I’ve been living with Captain Brown for many years. I tend to overlook the fact that we aren’t, in fact, related.”

“So that’s where I have to go?”

“I don’t think you’d like the other options.” He came back across the room and sat down in the chair again. “You’re better off with me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I want to know why you aren’t having a problem with any of this,” he stated instead. Then after the weird look I gave him, he went on. “I mean, you aren’t screaming or throwing a fit or anything. You’re very calm, and it’s kind of strange with you just being kidnapped by someone you don’t know. I mean, I’ve dealt with girls like you before, but they only acted like this because they were just relieved to be going home. The ones who didn’t want to go back or had been gone for so long are the ones who put up the fights. That’s where I pegged you.”

I turned my head away from him. I wasn’t about to tell him that I had decided it was in my best interest to stay with him, since hopefully my father had seen him and would find out who he was. Staying with him was my best chance of being found, and unless I heard anything about my father elsewhere, I had to stick around. I wasn’t happy in the least bit, but I could never tell him this for obvious reasons. I just had to wait it out and be patient, something I had gotten better at within the last few years. My temper, on the other hand, was less stable.

I closed my eyes. “My head is hurting still.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have kept talking. Just sleep.”

“How much longer do we have before we dock?” I asked as I started to drift off.

“Don’t worry about it. Rest.”

The next time I woke, it was dark. There wasn’t any light in the room, which must have meant the sky was cloudy since the night before last the moon had been full. Hopefully James was asleep so I could get up and leave the room unnoticed. I sat up and as my eyes adjusted, I saw him leaning sideways in his chair. I couldn’t tell if he was asleep, but he didn’t move when I stood. I headed over to the door and tried the handle, but it was locked. I felt around for the latch but couldn’t find it. Were they serious? I had to be locked in a room with him? I started to get angry until I felt a hand cover mine and before I could stop it, he moved it up the door to where the latch was. I noticed that his hand was soft against mine, not rough like I had thought it would have been. As soon as the door was open, I was out and away from James before he could touch me again.

“I thought you were asleep.” I felt almost ashamed at being caught, but I figured it was just trying to cover how I was feeling about him touching me, which confused me. Everything about him seemed to confuse me. I couldn’t tell if it was because of my head injury or if it was just him in general.